Google Sheets expense tracker template
Log every expense in one place and see where the money goes. Totals by month and category, a budget check, tax-deductible and reimbursement totals, and receipts you still need, all worked out for you.
Open in Google Sheets · Download for Excel (XLSX). Free to use, no sign-up needed.
| Date | Description | Category | Payment method | Amount | Tax deductible | Receipt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 2026 | Office rent, October | Rent and utilities | Bank transfer | $1,500.00 | Yes | Yes |
| 2 Oct 2026 | Business insurance | Insurance | Bank transfer | $165.00 | Yes | Yes |
| 3 Oct 2026 | Design software | Software and subscriptions | Company card | $59.99 | Yes | Yes |
| 6 Oct 2026 | Social media ads | Marketing and advertising | Company card | $480.00 | Yes | Yes |
| 8 Oct 2026 | Flight to trade show | Travel | Company card | $312.00 | Yes | Yes |
| 9 Oct 2026 | Dinner with prospects | Meals and entertainment | Personal card (to reimburse) | $142.80 | Yes | No |
| 12 Oct 2026 | Shipping supplies | Office supplies | Company card | $37.25 | Yes | Yes |
A Google Sheets expense tracker is the simplest way to see where your money goes. Every expense goes in one list, and the spreadsheet does the adding up: how much you spent each month, on what, against what budget. This free template does all of that for you. Open it in Google Sheets with one click, or download it for Excel, and start logging.
Below you will find what the template includes, how to use it, and a step-by-step guide to building your own expense tracker in Google Sheets, with the formulas, dropdowns and charts explained, plus how to log expenses from your phone.
What is in this expense tracker template
| Sheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Summary | Totals for the year and the chosen month, spending by category and month, a budget check with categories over budget in red, and charts by month and by category |
| Expenses | The log: one row per expense with date, description, category, payment method, amount, tax deductible, receipt and notes. Quick totals at the top: everything recorded, this month, and what is owed back to anyone who paid personally |
| Categories | Your categories (up to 20) with a monthly budget for each, and your payment methods. The dropdowns and the summary read from here |
| How to use | A short guide inside the file |
It works for a small business, a freelancer or a household. The example categories are business ones; replace them with your own (there is a list of personal categories below).
How to use this Google Sheets expense tracker template
- Open your copy. Click Open in Google Sheets at the top of this page and choose Make a copy. The copy is saved to your own Google Drive, and only you can see it until you share it. (Or download the Excel version.)
- Set your categories. On the Categories sheet, rename the example categories to suit you, set a monthly budget for each, and list how you pay for things.
- Clear the examples. On the Expenses sheet, select the example rows from Date to Notes and press Delete. Leave the Month column alone: it fills itself in.
- Log each expense as one row: the date, what it was, its category and payment method from the dropdowns, the amount, whether it is tax deductible, and whether you have the receipt.
- Check the summary. Type a year and a month number at the top of the Summary sheet. You will see spending by category and month, how each category compares with its budget (over budget turns red, nearly there turns amber), and two charts.
- Chase missing receipts. Any expense marked as having no receipt shows in red.
- Settle reimbursements. Choose Personal card (to reimburse) for anything someone paid personally. The total owed shows at the top of the Expenses sheet.
Using another currency? Select the amount columns and choose your currency under Format > Number > Currency in Google Sheets.
How to track expenses in Google Sheets: build your own
If you would rather build an expense tracker yourself, or want to understand how the template works, here is how to do it step by step.
1. Set up the columns
In a new spreadsheet, type these headings in row 1: Date, Description, Category, Payment method, Amount, Notes. Then freeze the heading row with View > Freeze > 1 row, so it stays visible as the list grows.
Format the Date column as a date (Format > Number > Date) and the Amount column as currency (Format > Number > Currency). If dates come out wrong (such as 3 April instead of 4 March), check your spreadsheet's locale under File > Settings.
2. Add dropdowns for categories and payment methods
Dropdowns stop the same category being typed three different ways, which would break your totals.
- Make a second sheet called Categories and list your categories in column A.
- Back on the first sheet, select the Category column (from row 2 down).
- Go to Data > Data validation > Add rule.
- Under Criteria choose Dropdown (from a range) and enter
Categories!A2:A30. - Click Done. Every cell in the column now has a dropdown.
Do the same for the payment method column. For simple Yes/No columns, choose Dropdown and type the two options.
3. Total your spending by month
To total a category for one month, use SUMIFS, which adds up the amounts that match several conditions at once. With dates in column A, categories in column C and amounts in column E of a sheet called Expenses:
=SUMIFS(Expenses!E:E, Expenses!C:C, "Travel", Expenses!A:A, ">="&DATE(2026,10,1), Expenses!A:A, "<="&EOMONTH(DATE(2026,10,1),0))
That reads: add up the amounts where the category is Travel and the date is between the first and the last day of October 2026. EOMONTH gives the last day of the month, so you never have to remember how many days a month has. Put your categories down the side of a summary table and the months across the top, refer to those cells instead of typing "Travel" and the date, and one formula fills the whole table.
4. Compare spending with a budget
Add a Monthly budget column next to your categories. In a budget table, show the budget, the amount spent (from the formula above), what is left (=budget - spent) and the percentage used (=spent / budget, formatted as a percentage).
5. Highlight categories that are over budget
Select the budget table, then Format > Conditional formatting. Under Format rules choose Custom formula is and enter =$C2>$B2 (spent is greater than budget, with spent in C and budget in B). Choose a red fill and click Done. Add a second rule for categories above 80% of their budget with an amber color.
6. Add a chart
Select your monthly totals and go to Insert > Chart. Google Sheets suggests a chart type; a column chart works well for spending by month, and a pie chart for spending by category. Change the type under Chart editor > Setup > Chart type.
7. Or let a pivot table do the totals
If you do not want to write formulas at all, select your expenses and choose Insert > Pivot table. Add Category under Rows, Date under Columns (right-click a date in the table and choose Create pivot date group > Month), and Amount under Values. You get spending by category and month in a few clicks, though it is less tidy to format than a formula table.
How to log expenses from your phone
The easiest way to keep an expense tracker up to date is to log each expense the moment you pay. Two ways to do it in Google Sheets:
- The Google Sheets app. Open your tracker in the Sheets app on your phone and add a row. It works, but typing into a spreadsheet on a small screen is fiddly.
- A Google Form. In your tracker, choose Tools > Create a new form. Add questions for date, description, category (as a dropdown), payment method and amount. Every answer you submit lands as a new row in a sheet called Form Responses in your tracker. Save the form's link to your phone's home screen, and logging an expense takes seconds.
If you use a form, either copy its responses into your Expenses sheet once a week, or point your summary formulas at the Form Responses sheet instead.
Expense categories to use
Keep the list short: ten to fifteen categories is plenty. Too many and you will spend more time choosing than logging.
| For a business or freelancer | For a household |
|---|---|
| Rent and utilities | Housing (rent or mortgage) |
| Software and subscriptions | Utilities and phone |
| Office supplies | Groceries |
| Marketing and advertising | Transport and fuel |
| Travel | Eating out |
| Meals and entertainment | Subscriptions |
| Equipment | Health |
| Professional services (accounting, legal) | Insurance |
| Insurance | Shopping and clothes |
| Bank and card fees | Entertainment |
| Contractors | Gifts and giving |
| Other | Other |
For a business, it helps to match your categories to the ones your accountant or tax return uses, so the totals can be handed over without being sorted again.
Tracking business expenses: what to record
- Keep the receipt for every expense, and note in the tracker whether you have it. Many tax authorities expect you to keep receipts for several years.
- Mark what is tax deductible as you go, so the year-end total is ready. What counts depends on your country and situation, so check with an accountant.
- Separate business and personal spending. Use a business card or account where you can. If you pay personally, mark it so you can reimburse yourself.
- Record the payment method, so each expense can be matched to a bank or card statement.
- Add a short note for anything unusual: who the client dinner was with, what a piece of equipment is for.
This template helps you organize your records. It is not tax advice; ask an accountant what you can claim.
Useful Google Sheets formulas for expense tracking
| What you want | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total for one category | =SUMIF(C:C,"Travel",E:E) | All time |
| Total for one month | =SUMIFS(E:E,A:A,">="&DATE(2026,10,1),A:A,"<="&EOMONTH(DATE(2026,10,1),0)) | Change the date for another month |
| This month so far | =SUMIFS(E:E,A:A,">="&EOMONTH(TODAY(),-1)+1,A:A,"<="&TODAY()) | Updates every day |
| The month an expense falls in | =DATE(YEAR(A2),MONTH(A2),1) | Format as mmm yyyy; handy for pivot tables |
| Number of expenses in a category | =COUNTIF(C:C,"Travel") | |
| Totals for every category at once | =QUERY(A:E,"select C, sum(E) where A is not null group by C label sum(E) 'Total'",1) | Google Sheets only |
| Every expense over $500 | =FILTER(A:E,E:E>500) | A live list that updates itself |
| Average monthly spending | =SUM(E:E)/DATEDIF(MIN(A:A),MAX(A:A),"M") | Rough guide once you have a few months |
Tips for keeping your expense tracker up to date
- Log as you go, or at least once a week. Ten minutes on a Friday beats a weekend of receipts at the end of the year.
- Save receipts in one place. Take a photo and keep it in a folder named by month, and note in the tracker that you have it.
- Review monthly. Look at the summary once a month: which categories grew, which went over budget, which subscriptions you no longer use.
- Set a reminder so the weekly catch-up actually happens.
- Keep one tracker per business or household, and start a new tab or file each year.
If your team already plans its work in Coavon, two things help here. In Flow, set a recurring task such as “Log this week's expenses” to appear every Friday, assigned to whoever looks after the books. And in Drive, keep a receipts folder for each month, shared with the people who need it. For more ways to build habits like this, see our productivity tips.
When to move beyond a spreadsheet
A Google Sheets expense tracker is enough for most freelancers, small teams and households. Consider dedicated accounting or expense software when:
- You have many transactions and typing them is taking too long. Accounting software can import them from your bank.
- Several people spend money and need to submit expenses for approval.
- You need proper accounts, such as profit and loss or tax returns, rather than spending totals.
Even then, many businesses keep a simple tracker for budgets and planning alongside their accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free expense tracker template for Google Sheets?
Yes. The template on this page is free, with no sign-up. Click Open in Google Sheets to save your own copy to your Google Drive, or download the Excel version. It tracks expenses by month and category, checks them against a budget and totals what is tax deductible.
Does Google have an expense tracker?
Google does not have a dedicated expense tracking app, but Google Sheets includes a few budget templates in its template gallery, and you can build or download an expense tracker template like this one. Google Forms can be used alongside it to log expenses from your phone.
Is Google Sheets good for tracking expenses?
For most individuals, freelancers and small businesses, yes. It is free, works on a computer and a phone, can be shared with a partner or accountant, and formulas such as SUMIFS do the totals for you. Businesses with many transactions or several people submitting expenses may outgrow it.
How do I make a monthly expense tracker in Google Sheets?
Log each expense with its date, category and amount, then build a summary with categories down the side and months across the top. Use SUMIFS to total each category for each month, using DATE and EOMONTH to set the first and last day of the month. The template on this page has this built in.
How do I copy this template into my Google account?
Click Open in Google Sheets at the top of the page. Google opens a page asking whether you want to make a copy; click Make a copy, and the spreadsheet is saved to your own Google Drive. If you are not signed in to Google, it asks you to sign in first.
Can I use this expense tracker in Excel?
Yes. Click Download for Excel. The same sheets, dropdowns, formulas and charts work in Excel on Windows and Mac. The template is also usable in Numbers.
Can I track trip expenses with this template?
Yes. Add a category or a note for the trip, or keep a separate copy for each trip. Use the payment method column to see what was paid personally and needs to be reimbursed.
Can I share my expense tracker with my accountant?
Yes. In Google Sheets, click Share and add your accountant’s email address. Give them Viewer access to read it, or Commenter if they should leave notes. You can also download it as an Excel file and send it.